Polaroid SX-70 Sonar Reskin

November 9, 2017

My trusty Polaroid SX-70 Sonar was a little beaten up when I bought it off of Amazon a few years ago and was in need of a new leather reskin. With the new lower price of SX-70 film available from Polaroid Originals, I have a new fondness for the Sonar. The camera works well, but the leather had scratches and dents, so it was time to give it a fresh look. I was originally going to send the camera to an online shop to be refurbished and reskinned, but my wallet said I needed to tackle this job myself.

I found a very helpful video on YouTube by Analog Things on how to remove the old leather and started gathering what I needed to get started. I went to HugoStudo.com to find a nice selection of SX-70 skins to choose from, thinking that I would give the old sonar some bling with a color skin. But I eventually decided on a $20 classic black leather skin to restore it to it's original look. The skins are made to fit your specific SX-70 model and have adhesive on the back for easy installation.

I used cotton swabs, nail polish remover, a small bottle of low odor paint thinner, a utility knife, an x-acto knife, and some elbow grease. Removing the old leather and putting on the new skin took about two hours and looked so good that it now needed a classic leather SX-70 camera strap to complete the makeover. I picked up a black Impossible SX-70 strap from Focus camera for $19.99 with free shipping. B and H Photo had a used Mint SX-70 lens adaptor set for $59.95 that included a ND filter, close up lens, fisheye lens, and a couple of other filters, for about half the price of a new one, so I ordered that. I've been thinking about getting the Mint flash bar as well, but I might pick up one of the vintage SX-70 electronic flash attachments instead for a fraction of the cost from ebay.

So far, I've upgraded my Polaroid SX-70 Sonar for about a $100, with the flash attachment likely to cost an additional $27. The success of this project lead me to purchase a sorry looking Polaroid SX-70 Model 3 from ebay for a few dollars which will be my next camera restoration project.

Polaroid OneStep 2

November 4, 2017

I usually find out about new cameras from several blogs that I follow and from Kickstarter campaigns that I back, but I was caught off guard when Polaroid announced the OneStep 2. Being the camera addict that I am, and also that it was a new instant film camera, I couldn't restrain myself from pre-ordering one. I signed up for the newsletter which gave me a 10% discount on the camera and the initial purchase of film that I made.

The Onestep 2 looks much like its predecessor, the iconic Rainbow Polaroid OneStep, with the addition of an on camera flash. I have one of the original OneStep cameras, a Sears Special version, with a very large attachable flash unit. I took the OneStep off my Polaroid camera shelf and put a pack of the new Polaroid Originals film through it in anticipation of receiving the OneStep 2.

After waiting impatiently and emailing Polaroid Originals about the delivery of the OneStep 2, I finally received it a couple of days after the launch date of October 16th. I just assumed that when you pre-order a new camera, that it would be delivered before it was actually available on the store shelf to other customers.

Nonetheless, I am extremely happy with my purchase of the OneStep 2. I only think now that I should have gotten the graphite color to be less conspicuous when shooting photographs on the street and to better hide the eventual spots of dirt.

The camera operation is pretty straightforward - point camera at subject, press red button. The flash can be turned off if desired, but the flash is recommended. There is also a timer. That's about it for features.

In my experience with the camera so far, I need to get better at framing my shots for the parallax correction. The minimum focusing distance is two feet, with anything beyond that being in focus.

The new Polaroid Originals I-type film performs well, only that I found the need to set the exposure to the minus side on the OneStep 2. Love the camera and the new film!

Polaroid 110A/Instax Wide Conversion Project

September 22, 2017

I recently joined the Worldwide Instax Shooters group on Facebook and was inspired to attempt a Polaroid 110A conversion project. There was a post about a Polaroid 110A/B conversion where a hacked Instax 210 Wide camera was attached to the back of the Polaroid to take advantage of the professional quality lens on the camera.

I searched Craigslist and came up with this very nice condition Polaroid 110A with a Rodenstock Ysarex 127mm lens, only the shutter is a little sticky, possibly requiring a disassembly and cleaning. I've been searching the interwebs and reading as much as I can to get information on how I can do this and also the conversion project on my own.

I will need to gather a few items, such as a lens spanner tool, Ronsinol or denatured alchohol, and a healthy dose of confidence to tackle this project, probably sometime this fall and winter. For the Polaroid 110A/Instax Wide conversion I will need a donor Instax 210 Wide camera. Though I have one already, I would prefer to get another one as the one I have is in perfectly good condition to continue using.

Look for future posts about the project as I go along.

Polaroid One Step Close Up

October 9, 2016

Week 40 - Polaroid One Step Close Up, a Polaroid 600 instant film camera given to me by a friend who found it in his closet. The camera has a built in flip up flash powered by the internal battery of each Polaroid 600 type film pack. This closeup model features two focusing distances, with a slider between close up of 2-4 feet and distance of 4 feet to infinity. There is also a lighten/darken switch to adjust the exposure of your photos.

I had on hand an expired box of Impossible Project 600 black and white film, leftover from an expired film bag special from Impossible Project. My frugality will not allow me to purchase full price film, I usually only purchase the factory seconds or expired film bag specials. I also like the unpredictable results achieved with these films. If I want to get consistent, predictable results, I shoot with Fuji Instax Wide and Mini.

With no ideas or destinations in mind this week for subject matter, I turned to shooting photos of my friends, and a self portrait. I found I liked the outdoor shots better. One of my photographer friends commented that his portrait had Holga-like qualities with the softly focused edges and another friend liked the unique black and white instant photo, something that you don't usually see. They were all pleased when I gave them their photos after scanning them.

Time to get ready for Fall Polaroid Week coming up week after next, I hope the new Fuji Instax Mini Monochrome will be available by then.